“Parents have no right to impose their own values and beliefs on their children.” Discuss.

“Parents have no right to impose their own values and beliefs on their children.” Discuss.

Define

Impose- to force; dictate

Values and beliefs- religion, sexual orientation, lifestyle etc

This question wants students to discuss whether parents have the right and authority to impose their own lifestyles and values on their children, just because they are older and “more experienced”. This question wants students to examine the notion of rights and whether children should lead the lives that they want. Better students will be able to address what is meant by values and what exactly constitute proper values. The yardsticks of values and beliefs differ across individuals. Students may also want to consider if children have rights and if they have, who are the ones granting these children the rights. Of course, this question may or may not hold true depending on how religious or traditional the society is, and the legal dependency age of children.

Yes parents have no right

1.Parents have no rights, as it is their child’s right to live their life in accordance to what they want in order to be truly fulfilled and happy. Even if parents have the best interest at heart for their children, they should not impose their own thinking and dogma on their children. Parenting should just be a supporting and advisory role, not one that dictates how children should lead their own lives. Very often, children grow up unhappy, jaded and disillusioned when the external pressure is so strong on them that they are unable to pursue what they love. In that case, children are merely living out their lives for their parents instead of living a life they want.

2.Parents have no right because every individual is unique and different, and no two people should live a life that is already engineered by his or her parents. In fact, it could be a very selfish attempt for parents to use their children to fulfill whatever lost dreams they did not pursue when they were young. Children’s roles are not to live out the unfulfilled dreams of their parents.

3.Children’s lives ultimately belong to God, who allows their existence to come into place. Parents are merely the caretakers that God has put in place for the children. As such, children should lead a life according to how they want it as long as they are answerable to God at the end of the day.

No, parents have every right

1.Parents have right to impose their family beliefs and values, assuming that they even have the best interests of their children at heart. This ensures that children will be brought up well and be good citizens of the society. This holds true for the impartation of values that are universally agreed upon such as respect, responsibility and hard work.

2.Some may argue that since parents are the ones that bring their children to the world, they have every responsibility to dictate how their lives go. Perhaps this holds true for very traditional families, where parental authority means everything, even at the expense of the child’s personal happiness.